The sound of swift pounding hooves could be heard in the quiet of the forest. Just under the rustle of the leaves that blew in the calm wind. Her dogs had to run to keep up with Birdie’s brisk trot; their tongue lolling out of the sides of their mouths as they went. They were already tired from hunting. A duck and a squirrel would hold them for the night, so Beck had turned her horse towards home. There was no use wasting energy hoping for deer.
Birdie snorted and hopped to the side to avoid Stella, one of the dogs, who had abruptly turned and darted the other way. Raks wasn’t far behind her and when Beck whistled, neither of them came back. With an annoyed sigh, Beck wheeled her horse around and nudged her into a canter to catch up with the dogs, flying through the woods at an alarming rate.
When they came to the river, Beck knew why. There was smoke in the distance, and the girls were trying to run as far away from it as possible. It was the best idea. It didn’t look like a fire, but sometimes you couldn’t tell. The thought of survivors crossed her mind and Beck tried to tell herself that it was for the best if she didn’t help. Surviviors were people and people had never done her any favors...
With a swift kick she turned her horse around and they were galloping up the stream towards the crash. She didn’t worry about the dogs. If they didn’t follow, they’d find their way back home. Beck’s fingers dug into her saddle horn as Birdie jumped over a fallen log and splashed down into the shallow part of the river. By the time they got to the site, the smoke had died down significantly.
She swung her leg down and crept closer. It was oddly eerie to be so close to a helicopter. She knew exactly what it was, but she’d never seen one unless it was far off in the distance. Seeing it here was almost like seeing a corpse; it’s propeller was mangled, it’s tail had broken off. There was shattered glass everywhere. The sight had her so distracted that when she did see someone, it shook her far more than she thought it would.
“Hey!” Beck broke into a jog, even though he wasn’t that far away. “Fuck. Hey... are you ok?”
